The Case for Ed Oliver at Nose

[HoofHearted]

11 hours ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

Hey @HoofHearted thanks for everything 🙏.

 

The underrated part McDermott used lots of rotations not talked about for d-line and such.. Starter's possibility play lots more in defense.Just wondering need backups as well. 

 

 Just wondering your thoughts.

We’ll need depth across the front 7. I don’t think they’ll rotate as much.

[Bill from NYC]

Jeff Wright anyone?

[BuffaloRebound]

Byron Murphy of Seattle not much bigger than Oliver.  

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

We’ll need depth across the front 7. I don’t think they’ll rotate as much.

 

Other than Zach Allen who played 70% the Broncos were a very high rotation front. Now I don't know if that means JL will be, but I crunched the numbers last offseason and McDermott was actually rotating just a tick above average for teams that made the playoffs. I think fans presume they rotated a lot more than other teams and when you get into it its just the nfl now.

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

That’s a fun narrative that spread. Houston runs essentially the same defense we did under McDermott and they didn’t seem to have any issues. Why? Because they can get home with 4.

 

As far as McDermott needing to try something else… did you watch this year? We were a totally different defense this year than we have been. We went from a primarily two high shell team to a MOFC team overnight to address the issues. Played more Cover 3 and Man than we have since McDermotts first year here.

 

This is another common misconception. That the Bills defense has been "the same" for 9 years. And that isn't true. There have been elements that have remained consistent but there have been things that they have changed, used more of and then less of as they have gone along. 

[HoofHearted]

49 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Other than Zach Allen who played 70% the Broncos were a very high rotation front. Now I don't know if that means JL will be, but I crunched the numbers last offseason and McDermott was actually rotating just a tick above average for teams that made the playoffs. I think fans presume they rotated a lot more than other teams and when you get into it its just the nfl now.

Yup, it’s the way of the game. Most fans only watch their team. I do hope we are smarter with our rotations.

[Mat68]

Watch the Wade Phillips clip.  About playing style not measurables.  Eds best asset is quickness and penetrating.  Moving from a 3t to 4t in an odd front is a 1 foot towards the tackle.  It’s literally the same position.  With a player who isn't great eating double teams why limit his impact by asking for it every play at nose? 

[colin]

i think oliver is a coin flip at this point.  if they keep him, it's because leonhard thinks he's the bee's knees and will be a difference maker.  he is a bigger cap hit guy who just had two awful seasons in a row.  being good when you play but not playing for nearly an entire season is something that GMs look at negatively.

 

ideally we keep him, sign or draft a big stout DT (say a 22 year old version of DQ jones), and he, walker, and new DT can share time at NT, and oliver plays like he did in 23 but in a defense that maximizes his production.

 

we need a couple ends (who do we have now who will fit, jackson is a question mark, maybe TJ, groot i think will be excellent, carter might be done in the nfl for all we know), and at least 2 new LBs who will get major playing time.  we also need a safety, corner depth (not fussed there tho), and maybe a nickel back.

 

given that a large change is afoot, i think the chances of moving on from oliver are as high as they can be.  if we target a big time pass rusher acquisition or want to tap free agency for starting LBs, it makes me question oliver staying more.  walker's great rookie season might make oliver expendable.

[KOKBILLS]

On 2/7/2026 at 2:06 PM, Simon said:

 

Did you know washing them down with a beer works as a force multiplier;-)

 

I've been looking for a new Doctor... Do you accept all insurances? 

[thenorthremembers]

I'd be surprised if Oliver is on the roster this coming season.   He needs to take a large paycut and I dont see him agreeing to it. 

[GunnerBill]

3 hours ago, colin said:

i think oliver is a coin flip at this point.  if they keep him, it's because leonhard thinks he's the bee's knees and will be a difference maker.  he is a bigger cap hit guy who just had two awful seasons in a row.  being good when you play but not playing for nearly an entire season is something that GMs look at negatively.

 

ideally we keep him, sign or draft a big stout DT (say a 22 year old version of DQ jones), and he, walker, and new DT can share time at NT, and oliver plays like he did in 23 but in a defense that maximizes his production.

 

we need a couple ends (who do we have now who will fit, jackson is a question mark, maybe TJ, groot i think will be excellent, carter might be done in the nfl for all we know), and at least 2 new LBs who will get major playing time.  we also need a safety, corner depth (not fussed there tho), and maybe a nickel back.

 

given that a large change is afoot, i think the chances of moving on from oliver are as high as they can be.  if we target a big time pass rusher acquisition or want to tap free agency for starting LBs, it makes me question oliver staying more.  walker's great rookie season might make oliver expendable.

 

Ed will be here.

[IYKYK]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Ed will be here.

He’s too brittle. We have way too many injury prone players. We need to reevaluate the process they use to sign or draft players. How many years in a row does a team have to have so many injuries before you decide to do something different. Because what they are doing now isn’t working. 

[HoofHearted]

3 hours ago, Mat68 said:

Watch the Wade Phillips clip.  About playing style not measurables.  Eds best asset is quickness and penetrating.  Moving from a 3t to 4t in an odd front is a 1 foot towards the tackle.  It’s literally the same position.  With a player who isn't great eating double teams why limit his impact by asking for it every play at nose? 

Again, where are the doubles in a 5 man front?

[SoonerBillsFan]

12 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Ed will be here.

We will see.

[K-9]

9 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Ed will be here.

Oliver can play any one gap responsibility along an odd man front. I suspect Leonhard knows this. You don’t improve by subtracting your better players and Oliver is certainly one of them. The only way I can see him being moved is in a trade for a player of better value and I’m not sure that’s out there. 

[IYKYK]

36 minutes ago, IYKYK said:

He’s too brittle. We have way too many injury prone players. We need to reevaluate the process they use to sign or draft players. How many years in a row does a team have to have so many injuries before you decide to do something different. Because what they are doing now isn’t working. 

Gunner I’ll, you don’t think we’ve had so many injuries in the last few years? Seriously? It’s been an ongoing problem for years. Something needs to change. 

[Xerx]

6 hours ago, HoofHearted said:

 

 

As far as McDermott needing to try something else… did you watch this year? We were a totally different defense this year than we have been. We went from a primarily two high shell team to a MOFC team overnight to address the issues. Played more Cover 3 and Man than we have since McDermotts first year here.

 

It was the best coaching job he's ever done. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

42 minutes ago, HoofHearted said:

Again, where are the doubles in a 5 man front?

Where the free rusher wasn't lol

[hondo in seattle]

18 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I respectfully disagree about McDermott defense. 

He confused bad QBs and padded stats against terrible teams. 

His defense got torched by the really good QBs. The run defense would get gashed a few games each year. Started with Saints in his first year here and still happening in his last year here with teh Falcons game. 

And let's for a moment say you are correct about the need to get home with four. Well if you can't then you need to try something else. 

It is not to say the defense made no plays with McDermott.  You can make an argument the Taron Johnson pick 6 is a top 3 play in franchise history and the Hyde INT against the Pats was a thing of beauty.  

 

Ethan, I agree with the first part...  McD confused bad QBs and padded stats against terrible teams.

 

But I don't think that's a flaw in the 'McD defense.'  I think he made lemons with lemonade.  Other than Edmunds, the only defensive Pro Bowlers we've had in the McD/Beane years were Whaley guys who aged out.  Good defenses need playmakers; we haven't had them.  

 

McD's defense (whatever we mean by that) isn't exotic.  He didn't line up in a 2-5-4 or something weird like that.  He used the same alignments, coverages, etc. as other coaches.  Yes, he has some tendencies and preference that set him apart.  He's particular fond of - and talented at - disguising coverage, for example.  And people can argue he wasn't aggressive enough. 

 

But his defensive scheme would work fine if he had the players to execute it, including - as @HoofHearted has repeatedly pointed out - a front four that could generate pressure.  In the Kelly SB years, we had Bruce Smith.  In the Josh hoping-for-a-SB years, we had... who?  Old, injured Von?  Past his prime Bosa?  Rousseau? 

 

McD's defense could confuse bad QBs but it didn't confuse good QBs with time to throw.  The chess match evolved into a boxing match and the bigger, better fighters were on the other side of the ball.  

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, IYKYK said:

Gunner I’ll, you don’t think we’ve had so many injuries in the last few years? Seriously? It’s been an ongoing problem for years. Something needs to change. 

 

We have had a lot of injurues. So does every team in the league. The Chargers played the playoffs with no offensive linemen left. The Texans ran out of receivers. The 49ers ran out of everything. They should absolutely look at whether there are things they can do better, but the idea that fundamentally they are just more injury prone or "they get injured because they are small" is nonsense. They get injured because they play football.